I din't beat the GMAT :(

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I din't beat the GMAT :(

by juhi » Sat Oct 28, 2006 10:39 pm
Hi,

I gave my GMAT in mid October and got score of 620 (45 Q, 30 V). I was disappointed as I was getting around 670 in all my practice tests (ETS paper tests, GMATprep, 800 score.com, Princeton, though Kaplan was about 580-620 which varied in each test). Since powerprep has the same questions as the OG, I dint take it.

I was happy with my quant score as I never did maths since 10th and was poor in it then too. I am not happy with my verbal score and while giving the test I thought it was going fine, but was disappointed to see the result. I had given GMAT in Nov 05 and had got a 570. There was an increase of 3 points in each section of the recent test.

I started preparing for GMAT in July this year. I used OG 10, 11, Kaplan 800, Kaplans verbal guide, Princetons verbal & math guide & the 1000 qs sets. So, in terms of material I was not falling short of questions.

I got a bit nervous at the start of each section I guess that’s what messed up my score. In maths there were 2 questions on permutations & combinations, majority were on ratio, proportion, rate, number properties.

In verbal I came across only one bold face questions. I think the passages are very similar to the GMATprep software. The questions in both maths & verbal are very similar. So while giving the test, it felt like giving a test on GMATprep.

I got the same essay topic for analysis of an issue which I had got in GMATprep (got lucky there I guess). The argument essay prompt was good and it appeared first, whereas last year when I gave the GMAT it appeared after the issue essay. My average score for the essays was 5.

I had enrolled in Princeton’s classes for GMAT prep and had access to the online questions. I would suggest anyone in India to join Princeton just for that reason or get access to the online student center. The questions in their online drills are great, especially in verbal, though their classes are not very helpful.

Time was not a problem in any of the sections as I gave all my tests in a simulated environment and made sure that I do the essays before the tests taken in the last 2 weeks.
In the last week of my test I made sure I wrote both types of essays everyday.

There was no noise in the testing center, I gave mine in New Delhi, just some background typing noise. I reach about 50 mins early for the test and they made me sit for it right away. This helped coz my test timing was in the evening and I am more of a morning person.

I might consider giving the test again, as I know I can get a better score on verbal, but haven’t decided for sure yet.

This forum is great and has helped in improving my performance. I say this because the last time I gave the test I wasn’t as organized like this time. The trackers, personal posts helped me a lot to plan my schedule.


Thanks
Juhi

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by beatthegmat » Mon Oct 30, 2006 7:37 pm
Thanks for sharing your experience, Juhi. If you think you can definitely improve your verbal in your next GMAT--then go for it!

Best of luck!
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